Currently, there are a variety of systems that can analyze a packet trace of a communication. Today in video, voice, and data communications, the number of packets in a packet trace of the communication can be very large. The problem with large packet traces is trying to identify potential problems; the number of packets to view and analyze can become overwhelming. This is especially true when trying to compare the packet trace of a successful communication to the packet trace of an unsuccessful communication on similar, but not identical, communication systems/paths. This problem is exacerbated when different fields in the protocols that are used to send the packets change slightly based on different configurations in the network and/or different communication paths. Just trying to compare the differences in the packet traces of a successful communication and a failed communication can become daunting.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,775,240 discloses a system that can compare the same test signal on a network path with a known quality and a network path with an unknown quality. Differences of specific network characteristics relating to quality of service, such as delay, are compared to help determine the quality of service of the network path with the unknown quality. This solution is useful when you are looking at specific known characteristics using the same signal. However, this solution falls short when the sent signal varies for each communication and if there are failures which are unexpected or caused by other characteristics; having to look at the differences in two different packet traces without knowing specifically what the error is and/or at what layer in the various protocols the error is can become difficult, if not impossible, to diagnose. This is because there are almost always differences in each packet, even though a similar communication is taking place on a similar network path.